PRO Statement: MTL vs PHI

In the 90th minute of the March 18 match between CF Montréal and Philadelphia Union, Montréal’s Chinonso Offor scored the tying goal. Upon checking the goal, at the moment that ball was last played by a teammate, it appeared to the video match officials that Offor was in an offside position. However, Philadelphia Union’s Kai Wagner was closer to the goal line than Offor, but was out of the view of the camera angles being used by the video match officials.

Therefore, the Video Assistant Referee recommended an on-field review for a possible offside in the attacking phase leading to the goal. After looking at the available video angles, the referee determined that Offor was offside and cancelled the goal.

Following the review and before the play was restarted, the video match officials viewed new video footage with a wider camera angle and were able to see Wagner close to the goal line, keeping Offor onside. The VAR immediately communicated to the referee to delay the restart, and the referee blew his whistle before the ball was put into play. The referee went to the Referee Review Area to look at the incident again, saw Wagner keeping Offor in an onside position, and correctly awarded the goal.